The Garden
by MiseryCrown
Summary: Several individuals in Wizarding London end up in a haunted garden. Anything could happen in a place controlled by illusion. Rating bound to change. AU. Characters under the influence. Psychological Horror and Trauma. The Golden Trio, Ginny, Cho, The Marauders minus James, Hannah, Neville.
1. Hannah

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe, it is the property of J.K. Rowling.

A/N: The tilde and hash symbols indicate memories/flashbacks. This story ignores canon deaths. Hope you enjoy.

Since the death of her mother, Hannah Longbottom has, for the most part, led a life of quiet seclusion, making herself almost entirely oblivious to the events going on in Wizarding London. After spending her time with discreet relatives for what would have been most of her 6th and part of her 7th year at Hogwarts, she finally took up residence in The Leaky Cauldron (of which she became the landlady) upon marrying Neville Longbottom. Upon Tom's, the former landlord of the pub, retirement, he signed over the rights of the place to Hannah and Neville, who have sought refuge there since. Tonight was quiet, only two people were drinking tall glasses of Sidecar and engaged in light conversations about their day-jobs; Hannah paid them no mind, she liked to think she had heard it all from her customers. From a best friend's cousins marrying each other to the loss of an entire family minus one survivor, they either came in to celebrate, cry, settle a score or get lucky.

After a year, Hannah found that she's rather disinterested, trading one news source for another. Of course, she would still hear plenty about the Wizarding world, living in one of the most famous and popular pubs for witches and wizards alike. It was going to just be her for the next few days; Neville was out visiting his parents, which he did 3 times a year, each time he would be gone for about 4 or 5 days, then return. She was thankful that she wasn't too busy tonight. The last time Neville went to visit his folks, some stranger walked in demanding she set up a free tab for him, without giving much reason as to why.

She still remembers that night so vividly:

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

 _The man with the red cloak approached Hannah's bar, leaning on it as he kept eye contact. Apprehensive, she took a step back, looking from the man's hood to the last button on his coat. Unable to make out his facial features aside from a small mouth and protruding nose (the upper half of his face was covered with a black mask), she started to ask nervously, "M-May I help you, sir?" At this, he shifted his position slightly, and cleared his throat. The man started to speak with a stuffy voice "Open a running tab, barkeeper. Myself and some friends are conducting VERY important business here on this delightful night. I insist that you do not charge, nor do you bother us." He declared, as if he were the supreme law of the land._

 _Hannah's face hardened; there was no way in hell this man would be getting free drinks, much less free drinks for an entire group. "You may open a tab, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to charge you. No one gets special treatment, mister." She said defiantly, hoping her feigned bravery would pay off. His face contorted, and he spat out in response, "How dare you refuse Arturo the Gatekeeper!?I shall impale thee with my mighty Scimitar of Baron Slaying +3!" With that, he removed what appeared to be a flat, half-cylinder shaped token with a drawing of a red sword on it. The man referring to himself as "Arturo" looked down at the piece with disdain. "…Drat! Didn't any of you numbskulls imbue this with the power contained within the Orb of Magicka?! Do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?" He turned around to what Hannah presumed to be his friends and glared at them._

 _Completely confused, Hannah did not know what to think. 'Is this some kind of joke?' She thought silently, eying the old telephone near the drinks. She backed away from the strange man, slowly and quietly as her hand inched closer to the telephone receiver. As he was busy lecturing his friends about some princess and demon chickens, she picked up the phone, and began to dial for the authorities on the vintage rotary dialer. She quietly informed someone of this bizarre situation, hung up the phone, turned around and saw that the man was now looking at her._

" _Chatting on the phone instead of serving your patrons? Hmph. I give this place 3 Dragons: Available space for Game masters, but the barkeeper shirks on her duties." He grunted as if the very air he was breathing had been tainted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an important adventure to oversee." With that, the man turned on his heel, and walked over to the table where his friends were, his cloak billowing slightly behind him. This was all too weird; was Hannah, or The Leaky Cauldron for that matter, in any danger? What was the deal with these people, what do they want?_

 _About fifteen minutes later, some individuals from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement came bursting through the doors, and headed straight for Hannah. One of the men starting speaking. "Hello, Mrs. Longbottom. What seems to be the problem, here?" She proceeded to tell them what happened, while pointing at the peculiar group of men. "The guy in the further-most seat, he calls himself…Arturo the Gatekeeper?" She said a bit uncomfortably, as the name seemed silly, and likely wasn't his real name. The men glanced over at the group. "Oh, it's these sods. We have to kick them out of pubs everywhere because they "harass" the landlords and ladies into letting them have a free-for-all game night, every single time. I apologize if they've caused you discomfort. I'll have them removed."_

 _A wave of relief washed over Hannah; these guys were harmless, despite trying to act menacing. She saw them be escorted out, the men tipping their hats to her as the group of pathetic men squabble amongst themselves._

 _~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~_

"Hello, lady?!" A voice shakes Hannah out of her thoughts. She looks at a pissed-off customer. "Finally! What does it take to get another Sidecar around here?" he snaps. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't see you. Right away." She fumbles writing down the order and quickly gets to work making it. "You must be blind." He retorted, leaning back in his barstool, and almost falling over as a result. She ignored this remark; it was her fault he was angry, so she had no reason to argue. Just serve the man and be done with it.

After a few, tense moments, she slides the drink over to the man. He nods in response, "Now we're talking." He says while taking a hefty gulp and slamming the drink down on the bar, almost causing all of its contents to spill. Hannah began to wonder to herself how so many of her customers could drink so much and still be a (at least halfway) functioning member of society. She was a lightweight when it came to drinking, and took an oath not to touch an alcoholic beverage, except on special occasions. After deciding that her two customers would be alright if she left for a few moments, she walked away from the bar and walked up the stairs, into one of the bathrooms. After relieving her bladder and washing her hands, she admired herself in the mirror for a moment.

Hannah never realized, until this moment, how much her face had filled out in the past couple of years. Her cheeks were fuller, more pink than they usually are. Her sandy-blonde hair covered her small breasts, and her eyes had bags under them; she looked like she hadn't slept in ages. Well, she hadn't. Ever since Mrs. Abbott passed, Hannah has not been able to get a good night's rest, worried that one day the Death Eaters may come for her, too.

Despite this, she still had her youthful looks. While life has been easier overall for her since Neville married her, she still had her worries, and voiced them to him as often as she could. Neville would always tell her that he could protect her, that he was strong and brave now, no longer a klutz, thanks to Remus Lupin, who had helped him gain confidence in his third year at Hogwarts. At this, she smiled, and placed a hand on the mirror. Maybe her life wasn't so bad…

Her hand began to feel hot, as soon as she had placed it on the mirror. 'Weird' she thought, and removed her hand to examine it. It hadn't turned red, or shown any signs of being sensitive. She put her hand on the mirror again, this time it burned. "Ow!' She yelled, removing her hand, seeing that she had a slight burn now. "What…?" She began to say to herself as she began to see a vignette form in the mirror. Rubbing her eyes, she looked long and hard at the mirror. The vignette was growing.

Curious, she placed her hand on the mirror yet again, except this time the mirror appeared to be made out of air. She gasped as her hand went through the mirror and fell back, against the toilet. Before she could process her shock and what was happening, the mirror began to crack, as if someone had dropped it. This was crazy; how could a mirror break so easily, and what was with the vignette? Figuring she had been away from the bar long enough, and that this was her mind playing tricks on her, she stood up. However, as soon as her foot stepped onto the next tile, the tile cracked and fell away.

This time she shrieked, taking another step back, only to have that tile fall away, as well. The small lavatory began to crack and fall away, pieces of the ceiling falling and threatening to crush her. Anything she touched would fall, there was no way to gain footing and escape. She ended up falling with the rest of the floor, desperately flailing her hands, hoping there was something she could grab on to. She saw nothing below her; was this the end? The 18-year-old witch soon lost consciousness.

**Let me know what you think! Did you catch the Fable 3 reference? -hehe-**


	2. Sirius

Disclaimer: The HP Universe is not mine, but Rowling's.

A/N: Chapter 2 up. It was brought to my attention that the first chapter had html code embedded into it when I uploaded the story; that's fixed now, and shouldn't happen again. With the exception of older characters, Post-Hogwarts students are 18-19. The first few chapters will have character's names, meaning that the specific chapter focuses primarily on the events that led to that character "transporting". After all the transporting chapters are done, the chapters after that will either be untitled, or have common-place names, I haven't decided yet. While I'm sure this doesn't happen often, I don't recommend "skipping" these chapters, they'll be important later on. After about 2 Character chapters, there will be a chapter that focuses on the garden. Oh, one last thing: I'll be studying Japanese for the next year and a half for my college requirement (not that any of you care), and if I ever have any Japanese readers, reviews in Kana or Romaji are absolutely appreciated! Okay, I'm done. Hope you enjoy.

Ever since he was a young Gryffindor, Sirius Black would love to assume his Animagus form, Padfoot, and run all over the grounds of Hogwarts, during the later hours, despite the fact that he would have to skillfully avoid Hogwarts teachers and staff patrolling the school and grounds. They (the Hogwarts staff and students) probably were unaware of his ability, as he had never revealed his true self to anyone outside of his immediate friend circle while he was a dog. The Ministry of Magic had failed to acknowledge this when he was imprisoned in Azkaban back in 1981, so they probably didn't bother to inform Hogwarts in the years prior. Nevertheless, this was a safe place for him; a place where he could run, play and be happy, something that he could not do for 12 years, but has been able to do for almost a year now that the Second Wizarding War was over. Cornelius Fudge became convinced of Black's innocence right before Harry would start his 6th year.

The cool, crisp air of the night felt liberating on his furry face, as well as on all his other senses; this was his time to reflect and defuse. During these periods of frivolity, Padfoot would think about all the things in his life that made him happy; from old memories with Prongs and Moony all the way to the times he's spent with Harry Potter, his godson, and everyone else. Of course, these had been few and far between until just recently since he had to hide from the Ministry; this was, fortunately, no longer the case. One of his fondest memories with the Golden Trio and Remus was when he and Moony re-enacted their days at Hogwarts for their amusement, with Harry acting as James, Ron wearing a wig, pretending to be a young Snape and Hermione as Blaire Jennings, a Ravenclaw girl that Sirius had once made-out with:

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

 _This place would never lose its…eerie charm in the eyes of Harry, Ron or Hermione. Being at 12 Grimmauld Place had been, until recently, a rarity in their lives; the last time they visited the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was right before Harry's 5_ _th_ _year, when it had been made the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. However, there was no meeting today; all was calm on this quiet evening, and everyone was hanging out in front of the fireplace, with Harry, Ron and Hermione on one loveseat while Sirius and Remus were sitting on the one directly across from them. The topic of conversation was Hogwarts, and everyone's life there. "I have to tell you all about Elise Collier!" Sirius chimed at the group, which mostly earned him confused glances from the trio, and a face-palm from Remus. "Elise? You mean the one that you always called 'Little Miss Ugly', 'Sneezing Sensation Collier', oh and we mustn't forget the good old'Four-Eyes'?" Remus butted in before he could start._

 _Sirius looked like he had just been shot, his cheek turning a slight scarlet shade. Hermione cupped her hands over her mouth, and looked over at Sirius, and then asked "Sirius! You were a bully?!" She looked from Harry to Ron, in complete shock. Trying to recover himself with a small chuckle, Sirius continued. "Elise Collier was one of the UGLIEST girls in our year. Brilliant, but god, not easy on the eyes at all. I saw her walking around in the common room one night, looked absolutely stunning in the mood lighting. At the time I was in hot pursuit of a chick named Stella, though she hated my guts. Anyway, she refused me when I asked her for help with Transfiguration. Told me Remus could help me out better. I told her you were lousy at explaining." His eyes dropped to the floor briefly before he went on. "Elise found out about the nicknames. I have no bloody idea how she found out, but she did. I felt like complete rubbish after that. Harry, I hope you never did the things James and I did to girls."_

 _Harry flashed a small smile, shaking his head. Remus was slightly on the defensive. "The only reason my explaining was "lousy" was because you didn't always pay attention to me when I did help, or you never fully applied yourself." He cracked a wide smile, and Sirius' normal color was returning to his cheeks. "We bullied Snape tons, Hermione." Sirius answered her question, since she looked like she was about to blow a fuse. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Looks like we know where you got your hatred for Snape, Harry." She jabbed him in the side with her shoulder._

" _We had a special nickname for him, Snivelly." Remus said as he burst out laughing. Ron was sitting mostly in awe of all this, but finally spoke up. "We called him a greasy git." Ron shared in the laughter. Harry, doing his best to stifle a laugh, cleared his throat. "Well, we shouldn't be too hard on him. After all, he's known you were innocent since 5_ _th_ _year, Sirius. I told you all about the Occlumency lessons in 6_ _th_ _year." Sirius nodded in Harry's direction, and clapped his hands together. "I know! Let's show them what a day at Hogwarts was like with us. I'm me, Remus is himself, Harry, you can be James." He said excitedly._

 _Looking like he had just been offered the role of his life, Harry flashed Sirius and Remus a toothy grin, and stood up. Sirius and Remus stood up after him. "I'll go find some old school uniforms," He said as he stepped out of the room. "You mean the ones with the lipstick stains on the neck tie?" Remus joked, calling after him. Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. Ron saw this, and suddenly took her hand. "Aren't you glad I'm not a womanizer?" Hermione chuckled at him, leaning in to his face and kissing him. "I'm sure he isn't like that anymore. Besides, you had the hots for women not long ago, mister, despite it not technically being your fault. He can't be that way anymore; he has to be a good role model for Harry." She looks at Harry as she says this, and Harry can't help but laugh._

" _It's been awhile since he's talked about our school days with such pep. I was convinced for a while that the Dementors had sucked all the happiness out of him, until I found out he was able to resist them." Remus mentioned, smoothing out the edges of his hair. A moment later, Sirius returned with two uniforms; one for himself, the other for Harry, even though it would be a little big on him. He didn't have a third one for Remus. "Here they are. Sorry, I didn't have one for you, Moony." Remus dismisses the uniforms with his hand. "I'll be fine." He replied coolly. Harry grabs the uniform that isn't stained with makeup, and starts to put it on over his normal clothes. The robes dragged to the ground, and he couldn't see his shoes, as they were blocked by the long pants legs._

 _Sirius chuckled at him, and helped him roll up the legs of the pants. His own robes were a bit of a tight fit on him, though he wouldn't mind it for a few moments. Meanwhile, Remus was searching for a book to hold, and Ron and Hermione were watching with contented amusement, occasionally sneaking kisses to each other. Picking up a stray, old book near the fireplace, Remus opened the book to a random page, and pretended to be engrossed in it. Sirius stood up and poked his head over Remus shoulder, as if curious as to what he were reading. "Always have your nose in a book, eh Moony? When are you going to ask out Mackenzie?" Sirius prods, the way he used to when they were younger._

" _M-Mackenzie?" Remus looks up from the book, trying his best to look anxious. "She doesn't even know I exist, Padfoot." Harry felt as if this were his cue to jump in. "Uhm…Oh, c'mon, Moony! Don't let this one get away. I'll…I'll make my move on Lily if you make a move with Mackenzie. It can be a group date." He tried his best to portray how he thought his father would act, though he felt a bit guilty talking about his late mother like that. Sirius nodded approvingly his direction. "Wait, who said anything about a group date? Even if so, what of you and Blaire Jennings, Sirius?" Remus asked both of them. Ron and Hermione couldn't help but burst out laughing at them, though Hermione sensed slight discomfort from Harry._

" _Jennings? Oh, just because we had one snog session last week doesn't mean I want to be with her." Sirius responded, running a hand through his hair, trying to appear as suave as he was back then. Hermione found herself blushing furiously, and tried to cover her cheeks. Sirius locked eyes with her for a moment, and asked "How would you like to be Blaire Jennings, m'lady?" She laughed at him, and looked at Ron. He smirked, and then nodded. "Just don't snog." He said, with a bit of a temper. Hermione smiled at him, leaned in and said "Oh, Ronald. This is all just good fun. Do you honestly expect me to—" She's cut off and gasps when Sirius takes her hand gently, turns her face towards his, and stares into her eyes. "Hey!" Ron yells, standing up and becoming apprehensive. Harry looks over at Ron. "Calm down, Ron. It's all acting." He grumbles to himself, and sits down, looking away from the spectacle._

 _Hermione's face is bright red as she looks into Sirius' deep-set eyes, a little nervous about what's going to happen next. Sirius almost forgets that this is all supposed to be pretend, and almost leans in a little more to kiss her, having to remind himself that she's spoken for and that his feelings will never be requited. To lighten the mood, Remus breaks the silence. "And speak of the devil…I guess it's a deal, James."_

 _~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~_

Padfoot comes back to reality, as something orange catches his eye; it's a Monarch butterfly, majestic and beautiful. He lets the insect fly around him for a little while, while he hovers himself down, as if this were prey and he was the hunter. Keeping his eye on the butterfly, he wiggles his behind, tail wagging wildly, and starts chasing after it. After a few moments of chasing his elusive prey, he lies down to catch his breath. The butterfly circles around him a few times, and lands on his nose. Padfoot watches the insect perch on his nose, and lets out a soft bark.

At this, the Monarch takes flight and is off. However, the butterfly seems to stop mid-flight, and drops to the ground. Curious, he gets up to sniff the ground around the butterfly that now, mysteriously, lies dead in the grass. Something didn't feel right; the air cradling Padfoot's fur now felt sharp and toxic. 'What's going on?' He thought to himself. 'Is an earthquake about to strike?" He hoped not, because if that were the case, he would need to transform back into Sirius pretty quick.

What's more, he was exposed. Suddenly, the ground underneath his paws begin to crack. 'Bloody hell, it IS an earthquake!' He thought frantically, not knowing what else to think of it. The ground where he was standing fell away, which caused him to yelp and scamper to the edge created by the broken ground. 'What…is happening?!' He thought, and without any further delay he turned back into Sirius, not caring if anyone saw; what was a bit of trouble with Hogwarts compared to preserving his life? If he could preserve it… As soon as he grabbed onto what he thought was a flat piece of Earth, that would break away as well. The grounds around him began to crack and fall away, as if none of it were really there to begin with.

After trying to hold on for about 30 seconds, Sirius fell into the blackness left behind by the Earth. Was this how it was all going to end? 'I can't even say goodbye to Harry…' He thought as he was in a free-fall, trying to accept that he may never see anyone ever again. As images of all his loved ones flashed before his eyes, he lost consciousness.

**I know, it was a looong memory. What did you think? I apologize if this seems to make the story go slow, I only do this to establish relationships/plot. The next chapter will introduce us to the garden.**


	3. Entrance

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Chapter 3 up. I've decided to structure this story in such a way that it mimics fiction stories such as 'Ancillary Justice', where one chapter focuses on a single time period, and the next on another. In this case, (for the time being) a garden chapter will be devoted to a single character, and as the story progresses and multiple characters' paths merge, I will start to include more and more characters per chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Hannah's body flailed as she came closer to what materialized into lush greenery, and fell on her back, upon the exposed dirt. A dreamless unconsciousness embraced Hannah, and she started coming to after a few moments of being in this strange place. Upon opening her eyes, she saw that she was surrounded by flowers, tall, square hedges and beside her a fountain that appeared to belong to the Gothic period. When she lifted her head, she groaned in pain from a headache and upper back pain caused by the impact. 'Where…where am I? How did I…get here?' she thought to herself, taking in everything.

There was a rustic, pointed gate several feet in front of where she lied. Able to get to her knees, she treads her fingers through the dirt, trying her best to rationalize all of this. It was a garden, but where was she? Was she still in London, or had she managed to land herself into another country? She recalls looking in the mirror right before her world seemed to...disappear. Did London, or the whole of England for that matter, exist anymore? There were a million questions buzzing in her head, but she knew she couldn't answer all of them right away, it could make her already-throbbing head feel worse. She couldn't see any tilled soil anywhere around here, not even a patch of dirt that would suffice for vegetation; this place looked and felt like a garden upon first glance, but it didn't have the live-in characteristic of such.

The only true sign that this was a garden was the abundance of several varieties of flowers. Who did they belong to? Another problem; to Hannah, this place _felt_ empty. She felt alone, which was starting to scare her a little. Her only option right now was to get to her feet, keep her balance, get a bearing on her surroundings, and look for someone, _anyone,_ that may know what's going on. 'I can't be all alone' she thought to herself, and the thought just didn't make sense. She saw, with her own eyes, London falling to pieces, or at least…she saw her bathroom fall to pieces. Had it only happened to her?

Before doing anything else, she went to the fountain, which was running, and decided to get a drink of water. At least she could stay hydrated. However, when she got closer to the fountain full of water, the water was not clear, or even blue. The water looked brown; now she wasn't so sure she wanted a drink. The fact, though, that there was running water, despite it being unclean water, meant that the water source had to be coming from _somewhere_. A house, maybe? After all, someone had to be around if they had cultivated this many flowers. Hannah decided to make it a point to smell them, after she found someone.

While the area she had fallen into was a dead-end, there was the gate. She started walking towards it, hoping that it was either locked or rusted shut. As luck would have it, the gate wasn't even shut all the way; she went through, wondering what could possibly be on the other side. She entertained an idea, briefly; what if what she experienced in her bathroom happened everywhere? What if everyone she knew, everyone she loved, was waiting behind that gate, rebuilding their civilization?

Such an idea didn't sound so far-fetched if the sky and everything around her had literally cracked like a dropped mirror. However, this could have also been the result of Dark Magic, perhaps a new spell that was part of a plethora of new magic, meant to throw the world into chaos once again? Perhaps her imagination was too active; who could blame her, though? After what she had seen, anything else just as bizarre, unexplainable could have happened. One thing Hannah had going for herself was that she fought in the Battle of Hogwarts a little over a year ago; she knew how to defend herself if the need arises.

Not much had seemed to change when she opened the door; she saw the same high shrubbery, the same flowers, everything the same except there was no fountain, and there was a structure in the distance that seemed to sit within the landscape itself. It all would have been quite beautiful, had it not been for the fact that the sky above her was a hazy grey and that she had no clue where she was. A structure was a good sign, though. That meant someone had to be around in order to build it at some point. It couldn't have just materialized out of nothing.

There was one peculiar thing of which she took note; the gloomy sky looked as if it were being viewed through a convex lens. The sky had an upwards bulge, instead of seeming far-reaching like a normal sky. Hannah knew one thing; no place in the world had a dome-like sky, that meant she couldn't be anywhere that was planet Earth. That, or this was a strange dream that she would wake up from any moment, and be greeted by her client's dirty looks. She actually welcomed the thought.

Adjacent from the mysterious structure was a Star Magnolia tree, in full bloom, it's few branches swaying gently in the light breeze. Under the largest branch hung a swing with a leather seat, tied to the tree by ropes. Admiring it for a moment, she said aloud "Seems harmless enough." And she walked over the tree with a small limp; that fall was hard enough to make her legs ache, but she doubted it was anything bad. As she got closer to the tree, the aroma of the flowers invaded her nostrils, and she began to smell a mixture of jasmine, sandalwood, ylang ylang, musk, among other scents. It wasn't an extraordinary smell, but it was not altogether horrible, either.

Hannah sat down on the swing, deciding to swing back and forth for a few moments to clear her head. Since she didn't often have anyone to push her on swings when she was younger, she had a bit of knack for swinging herself. She couldn't go very high, of course, but her feet still left the ground this way, which was satisfactory. After a few moments of swinging, she decided to stand up, but then something strange happened.

As she planted her feet firmly back on the ground, Hannah felt a push against her back, and she was swinging upwards yet again. Only someone pushing her would cause her to be swung that high, she couldn't do it herself. She looked behind her, but saw nothing. Was it the had possibly picked up? No, of course not. The wind didn't sound any louder, and it wouldn't have suddenly gotten strong enough of a gust to swing that high with her in it. Once she came to the ground again she tried to stand up, but this time she felt her hands being grabbed. She looked back and screamed; a black, faceless entity was holding on to her wrists.

It didn't look like any human or animal she had ever seen, but it was still terrifying nonetheless. Spikes were protruding out of its every orifice; Pinhead from the Hellraiser series would be proud. Hannah tried with all her might to pull herself away from this…thing, but it would not let go, and its grip tightened. "Please let me go!" She yelled, frantically trying to get away from this creature as well as the swing. The creature pulled her toward him, the only thing between her and it was the leather seat. She kept screaming, trying to pull this mass towards her, but it would not budge, as if it were made of steel.

Hoping someone heard her struggle, she lunged herself towards the spiky monster with no face, the seat the only thing protecting her. The multitude of spikes dug into her skin as she attempted to fight this thing, wincing and grunting and full of agony. This doomed battle did not last much longer; Hannah managed to tangle her body into the rope while taking swings at it with her fists, until she was too tied up in rope to fight. Closing her eyes briefly from the chafing on her skin caused by the rope, she opened them and saw that the creature had disappeared, at least from her field of view.

It could still be around. Her heart was pounding inside her chest, and it was a bit hard to breathe from being bound by the rope of the swing. She closed her eyes yet again, and spun herself around slowly so she could untangle herself, hoping she wouldn't see that monster when she opened her eyes. It took a few moments to free herself, but she was finally able to move, but ended up falling into the dirt. Her body ached, even more so than when she woke up from her descent into this place. There were numerous rope burns all over her arms and stomach, and she thought that, for a moment, she would surely lose circulation.

She didn't though, and she also didn't see that menacing creature anywhere. "What the bloody hell?!" She yelled, looking from as many directions as she could. "What the bloody hell…" She said once more, before sitting up. She got to her feet and moved away from the tree, a bit closer to that structure. Something was different though; there appeared to be a tall, human figure standing wobbly near it. Could it be another human being, or was it a trick by that…thing? She didn't see any spikes from the silhouette, and decided to take her chances. "Hello?! Can you hear me? I need help!" She yelled to the stranger. She hoped this was a real person, maybe he or she could help her, or harm her further…

**I'd love any kind of written feedback, so I know if you guys are liking this or not. Did I skrimp at all on the detail of the garden? Do I need to provide more imagery in the future? Let me know!**


	4. Murderer

Disclaimer: The HP Universe does not belong to me.

A/N: I'm back! After...quite a while. Things happened, life got in the way, you get the idea. I had to step away from writing (and stepped away from it longer than I had anticipated), but the new chapter is finally up. Same story structure still applies from the last chapter. Though, I should add that I'm ignoring most canon character deaths in this story (as you probably already knew or could tell). As far as chapter titles are concerned, those are still a work in progress, and are subject to change. This story may go in an entirely different direction than what I originally planned, but we will just have to wait and see. One last thing, I'll be updating the story description to cover all current/planned character usage and genres, etc. Okay, I'm done. Here's the story.

Chapter 4: Murderer

Sirius's unconscious body landed with a thud right next to a garden shed made of rotting, brown wood; luckily, he didn't land ON the shed, or he may have been impaled, or covered in splinters, or worse yet, stuck on top of the roof. None of which would have been in the least bit enjoyable. For a few moments, nothing happened, and he didn't wake up. Then, he started slowly opening his eyes. His surroundings suddenly becoming clearer, Sirius blinked a few times. "Where am I?" He looks around, noticing high and low shrubbery all around him, with beds of flowers dotting the farther-off landscape. It was as if he had fallen into a painting, a painting of a beautiful garden.

Struggling to get to his feet, he is struck with awe. _Did someone put me under an illusion?_ He wondered to himself, trying to remember if someone had cast an Illusion spell on him, but he didn't hear an incantation, or see anyone when the world seemingly…fell away. His feet buckled underneath him, and he fell back down. Grunting, he tried to push himself up, but could only comfortably get to his knees. This was probably due to his transforming back into a human so quickly, as he had never done so before. Even then, he had never been unable to stand after transforming back…this was all way too weird.

Disoriented for a few moments more, Sirius hears a bloodcurdling scream, belonging to a woman. His head snaps in the direction of the scream, and his eyes were still adjusting to the place. A woman is tangled in what seems to be an ordinary child's swing-set, however, what's next to her is what is concerning him. A black, spikey…monster!? Was grabbing her. It certainly didn't look like any witch, wizard or muggle he had ever seen before. It didn't even look like it was a human.

This time, he forced himself to his feet, not taking his eyes off the two. He stood there and watched the struggle, almost in disbelief of what he was seeing. He heard the woman yell, "Please let me go!", as she tried to pull away from him, and then she appeared to be swinging herself into this...strange, horrifying creature. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut, as he couldn't bear to watch the outcome, what's more, he also didn't want to be reminded of the horrors of Azkaban. Sirius felt awful for not trying to help her as this was happening, but he could hardly move, physically, to do anything.

What if this thing were coming for him after it got done with the girl? He couldn't stand watching, but he didn't want to look away for too long, just in case that creature made any sudden moves for him. To his shock, the creature was gone…where did it go? Hopefully, not behind him. He quickly turned around, but saw nothing. He sighed, and looked again at the girl, who looked terrified and confused. She was moving away from the Swing-set and the tree, and seemed to be looking in his general direction. _Does she see me?_ Sirius thought, watching her more intently now.

Even though she had screamed, he still wasn't sure if she was dangerous or not. He stood right where he was, and didn't move. His legs were shaking visibly, but he wouldn't back down. The girl yelled something, along the lines of her needing help. He needed help, too, but…could he trust her not to be possessed by that monster?

Hannah came closer to the figure, and could now start to make out the details. It looked to be an older man, in shaggy, slight mud-caked clothing and hair that was long and a little messy. "Um…Hello?" She said in a shaky voice, her fear apparent. Sirius figured he should respond, so that she wouldn't be freaked out any more than she (or he, for that matter) already was. "Hey…" He responded weakly, standing his ground. She got even closer and realized he was human, and she took a deep breath.

"Finally, another human." She began, a bit calmer this time. "Do…do you live here, sir?" She asked Sirius. He shook his head, and responded. "No, I don't. I'm from—" He had to stop himself from saying Wizarding London, just in case this girl was a Muggle. "-London." He finished, trying to smoothly recover the pause in his voice. Hannah nodded, slowly. "Me too."

 _At least we…kind of have a common home_ , Sirius thought. The girl looked uneasy for a moment, and then started talking again. "I'm…I'm Hannah Longbottom." She sat down on the cold ground, looking up at him. Sirius nodded, and said, "I'm…" He trailed off and thought for a moment. If this girl was a witch, there was a chance she surely knew who he was, but if she were a muggle, she wouldn't. Regardless, this was the probably the only person he's going to bump into for a while, so he'll take his chances.

"I'm…Sirius Black." His voice faltered as he gave his name. Hannah nodded, and thought for a moment. He watched her reaction closely. _Sirius Black…that sounds really familiar,_ Hannah was trying to remember where she heard that name before, and tried to think back. Sirius kept watching her, realizing that she was in deep thought about something, probably his name. _It would have been at Hogwarts, before the year was starting…Third Year?_ And suddenly, Hannah saw the newspaper clipping clearer than a crystal in her mind, and her eyes widened.

Sirius's fears were confirmed. She had just figured out who he was, and now he didn't know how she would react. "You're…THE Sirius Black? The man who escaped Azkaban?" She asked blatantly. He sighed, and nodded. "Yes, I am _that_ Sirius Black." Upon hearing that, Hannah got up from where she was sitting, a look of anger suddenly piercing her facial features. "You're a… murderer! You're going to kill me, aren't you?" She asked, starting to back away. Sirius put his hands up immediately, looked down, and then back at her. "I am not what the papers said I was…" He began, but before he could finish, Hannah had her wand out, and was pointing it at his neck. "Don't. Move. You're lucky we're not in London, or I would be turning you in right now, Sirius Black." Hannah spat at him, any trace of fear in her now gone, replaced with apprehension and loathing. He sighed, knowing that she probably couldn't be reasoned with, and regretted giving her his real name. Sirius was used to this behavior from people who didn't know him, but he didn't usually get himself into these situations.

**Feedback is always welcome**


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